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EU drains its 2021-2027 budget reserves supporting Ukraine — European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen recalled that 27 EU countries were asked to make additional contributions totaling 66 billion euros to the EU budget

BRUSSELS, June 30. /TASS/. The European Commission has already spent all the reserve funds allotted for the EU’s seven-year budget, an amount totaling 30 billion euros that is supposed to last through 2027, to help Ukraine, meaning the EU finance ministers will have to discuss the allocation of additional contributions to the сommunity budget, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Commenting on Hungary's refusal to make additional contributions to the EU budget, the EC chief said: "Within the last 16 months, as long as this war rages now, we have taken from the EU budget 30 billion euros to support Ukraine financially, not to speak of the other activities that we have done. And these have basically been from the flexibilities that we have in the cushions that we have in such a budget. These are now depleted."

Ursula von der Leyen also recalled that 27 EU countries were asked to make additional contributions totaling 66 billion euros to the EU budget. "This last till the end of 2023. Now the political question is that we will have to discuss in the next weeks to come that the outlook beyond 2023 till the end of the financing period 2027, how are we gonna support Ukraine. I think this is the main political question that has to be discussed was ot the topic of today, and it will certainly first be discussed also with the finance ministers," she said at the closing press conference of the EU summit.

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